Tracie Egan Morrissey

After never really catching on in the 30 years since its invention, the female condom has received a redesign with the hopes that women will change their minds about wanting to line their vaginas like a waste paper basket. The FC2, as opposed to the FC1, is made from synthetic latex and no longer produces a "rustling noise." Cool, I guess? But it's still a female condom.

The FC2 is apparently cheaper to produce and can be stored anywhere, unlike the FC1 which was apparently destroyed by direct sunlight—like vampires and Jack White. It will be distributed for free in bars and taverns in South Africa, thanks to a donation from the UN Population Fund, in a move to "boost women's control of their sexual health." Couldn't male condoms do that, though, and more effectively? Female condoms, after all, don't protect your butt. [Update: They do, actually. Regret the error.]

While giving women more options is always a good thing, the idea of female condoms always annoyed me. It just puts the onus completely on women when it comes to safe sex, a responsibility that should be shared, as it takes two to tango (and also fuck). Between the pill and the Depo shots and IUDs and NuvaRings, there are a lot of products that already do that.

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Don't get me wrong, it's great that these methods afford us the ability to control our own bodies. But putting on a condom is like the only time that men are ever held accountable in their role of preventing pregnancy or the spread of STDs. They shouldn't be exempt from that obligation. And it just seems like female condoms enables them to think that they are. Or worse: to not think about it at all.